3 Ireland has lambasted rival mobile operators for not reducing international roaming charges by billing consumers for the actual length of calls made abroad.
The other networks charge per minute for wholesale roaming. 3 Ireland claimed that this meant it, as a new entrant to the market, had to charge per minute at the retail level.
A recent European Commission report outlined concerns relating to consumers being charged on a per-minute basis instead of per second.
“Wholesale roaming rates should be charged by the second to ensure the best value rates for consumers,” said Rachel Channing, head of public relations and communications at 3 Ireland. “3 undercuts all operators on the Irish market on EU roaming rates but there are hidden costs from the other operators that are still passed on to consumers which could come down even further.”
By Niall Byrne
